sedile

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

n. One of a set of seats, usually three, provided in some Roman Catholic and Anglican churches for the use of the presiding clergy, traditionally placed on the epistle side of the choir near the altar, and in Gothic-style churches often built into the wall.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

n. Eccles., one of the seats within the sanctuary provided originally or specifically for the celebrant of the mass (or holy communion) and his assistants.

Etymologies

Latin sedīle, seat, from sedēre, to sit; see sed- in Indo-European roots.

(American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

With a suppedaneum and a sedile, breathing was easier and the problem became dehydration and thirst, with the crucified man more likely to die from a combination of thirst and exposure, rather than asphyxia.

Almanac (1676) and we find it alluded to in Boccaccio, the classical sedile which according to scoffers has formed the papal chair (a curule seat) ever since the days of Pope Joan, when it has been held advisable for one of the Cardinals to ascertain that His